But also the connectors on the backside look pretty much like the original (just click through the pics, it's more than just those 3 preview pics and on one of them you can clearly see the back with the connectors).

I wonder if this is a bit "fake" (to get some nice pictures) or if they all are really working? And if so, how are they connected to the Nexys board, or does this prototype already contain a custom board?

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From memory, the 2nd prototype has one of Wayne's C65 motherboard reproductions in it in at least one of the shots. This is not the motherboard that will be in the MEGA65, although we expect to have all the right connectors, as on Wayne's board.

Again: This prototype resembles the exact state where Commodore abandoned the C65. It was part of our plan to reach that state instead of doing changes to the machine before we reach that goal, so -in our world- we really enhance the C65 to become a MEGA65 and not just build a fantasy machine that abandons or ignores principles of the original computer.

So, yes, this case is a 100% replica of the original case and from now on there will be tiny and careful modifications to it mostly regarding the ports. It has been remodelled from the original (which we also own) by MEGA. And no, we will not mass- produce this version of the case.

Yes again, inside is a super exact replica of the original C65 board by Wayne of which we proudly own two (besides a fully polluted and working original C65 mainboard), of course missing some custom chips but other than that working perfectly.

The keyboard in this prototype is an original keyboard from Mitsumi. We have now cracked the keyboards nut and our own keyboards will be very similar. The case obviously will be aswell :)

Absolutely right. He built 10 boards in total but could only populate 9 of them because some parts become obsolete. I bought two boards (#6 and #7) from him for exhibition purposes. With the creation of the MEGA65 this has delayed but will be realized in a much bigger scale as they now became part of another story. Well, to be correct, *prototype II* has already been displayed as a C65 without anybody noticing (not even the C65 owners hehe).

I believe Paul also received a board from Wayne. At a later point we would like to try to replace the missing custom chips by small FPGAs with adapters to make the boards usable.

So, *prototype II*: Case remade from scratch (as close as possible to the original) by MEGA, Wayne's replica mainboard inside, keyboard from Commodore (Mitsumi) early 1990s.

Next and hopefully final *prototype III*: Case with new ports by MEGA,prototype mainboard by MEGA, protoype keyboard made by MEGA. Expect this around _October_.

I'm Wayne. I apologize for being out of the scene for the past year or so. I had a very bad head injury that I was recovering from. Since then I've moved back to Minnesota (from Arizona) to be closer to family and friends while I put my life back together again. I think I'm back up to speed enough to get reacquainted with the C65 scene again. I still love this machine.

I'm just a C65 enthusiast. I built the clone boards based on my revision 2A C65. My C65 is missing the VIC-III chip so I wanted a spare board or two that I could perform some experiments on while building my own VIC-III replacement without messing up my original. PCA Electronics used to manufacture the 15ns delay but it was obsoleted 20 years ago (similar story with the power filter). I talked them into making a few of them just for me but they were quite expensive. I thought it would be a fun easy project at first, but it took me the better part of a year to track down some of the components. Those KEL memory connectors are very hard to come by these days. And the 50 pin cartridge connector is next to impossible to find. All in all, I was able to completely populate 9 boards. I kept two for myself and sold most of the others. I still have one left for sale.

welcome and thanks for the introduction. While -as you know- I own two of your boards, it still would be nice to work on chip replacements, maybe using small FGPAs, to get your boards fully populated. However, I think you understand that building the MEGA65 is top priority to us, as it will not only look exactly like a C65, it will also be fully compatible and able to do a lot more. Maybe we will even settle with the holders of the Commodore brand, who knows :)

All the others: Go and buy that last board from Wayne while you can, there will never ever again be such an opportunity. For us the boards were already extremely helful, since they are 100% exact replicas. Guess you now understand what's inside the MEGA65 prototype II shell? We wanted to be 100% authentic and afterwards slowly and carefully enhance stuff. Instead of doing all from scratch and losing authenticity.

Once MEGA65 is finished there will be several exhibitions at our partner locations where we will show original C65s, Waynes boards, our first prototypes and of course the final machine.